North America

Sateliot, the first company to operate a low-Earth orbit nanosatellite constellation with 5G standards, extends its network range with a partnership with Comfone, a provider of mobile connectivity and roaming services. This operation enables over 480 MNOs and MVNOs worldwide to connect with a standard roaming agreement to Sateliot’s 5G NB-IoT nanosatellite constellation, paving the way to massive IoT adoption everywhere on the planet. Furthermore, with the agreement between Sateliot and Comfone, MNOs and MVNOs will be able to cover the entire plane.

ASTERRA, a US-based company that uses patented algorithms and AI to detect leaks, assess pipes and locate moisture, announced on the 19th of September that they have discovered their 100,000th leak. 

Space Systems Command’s (SSC) Assured Access to Space (AATS) Directorate awarded a $2.25 million contract to Astroscale US to advance Space Mobility and Logistics (SML) capabilities. Space Systems Command awarded the contract in collaboration with the Space Development Corps’ Space Enterprise Consortium (SpEC).

Rocket Lab USA, Inc. announced that the company experienced an issue during the launch of its 41st mission. Following lift-off from Launch Complex 1, the rocket successfully completed a first-stage burn and stage separation as planned before it experienced an issue at around T+ 2 minutes and 30 seconds into flight, resulting in the end of the mission. In addition, Rocket Lab's telemetry data, which the company provided during the livestream of Tuesday's launch, showed the velocity of the rocket's upper stage decreasing shortly after its single Rutherford engine was supposed to kick on. 

The imaging spectrometer, developed by NASA JPL for the Tanager program, was handed off to Planet, an American public Earth imaging company, for integration onto the Tanager 1 hyperspectral satellite on the 14th of September. The imaging spectrometer will detect, pinpoint and quantify point source emissions of methane and carbon dioxide. The mission marks a milestone for the Carbon Mapper Coalition, a public, private partnership announced in 2021. The Coalition aims to gain a deeper understanding of global methane and carbon dioxide emissions. 

Kayhan Space, a provider of high-performance software and solutions for space mission operations, have announced that it raised $7 million in an oversubscribed seed extension round to accelerate commercial delivery of the industry’s first autonomous space traffic coordination (STC) framework at the core of its all-new Pathfinder™ 3.0 spaceflight safety platform. Venture capital firms Space Capital and EVE Atlas have funded the extension round following in-depth reviews of the company's technology roadmap.  In addition, the company aims to leverage new funding to open an office in Washington, DC, and scale its U.S.-based team of 20 employees to more than 30, adding executives and specialists in key roles.

Space Systems Command’s Assured Access to Space (AATS) office have awarded a $15 million contract to ABL Space Systems to demonstrate responsive launch capability. The Small Launch and Targets Division at Kirtland Air Force Base, Albuquerque, New Mexico, part of AATS, awarded the Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) Strategic Funding Initiative (StratFI) to develop a launch mission design that incorporates planning for numerous satellites to multiple orbits from a variety of locations and conduct a proof-of-concept responsive launch.

Spire Global, Inc., a provider of space-based data, analytics, and space services, have announced that Estuaire, a data firm empowering the aviation industry to reduce its environmental impact, selected the company to supply global aviation insights. Furthermore, Spire will provide its detailed aircraft positional data, as well as its Flight-Report, which aggregates hundreds of millions of daily satellite and terrestrial ADS-B positions into an easily accessible one-row-per-flight information enriched with all the flight and aircraft data for post-flight analytics and reporting needs.

Slingshot Aerospace, Inc., a space data and tracking company dedicated to improving spaceflight safety and optimizing orbital operations, have announced that former White House space policy official, Audrey Schaffer, has been named Slingshot’s Vice President of Strategy and Policy. Schaffer brings more than 15 years of experience in policy and strategy leadership for the U.S. Government, including at the White House National Security Council (NSC), the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), the U.S. Department of State, and NASA.

SpaceWatch.Global is pleased to present: The Space Café Podcast #89: Alexander Layendecker and Egbert Edelbroek - Sex in Space - The Untapped Conversation. In this episode, Markus invites Alexander Layendecker, an expert in sexuality in space, and Egbert Edelbroek of Spaceborn United. Together, they navigate the sensitive and rarely discussed topics of sexuality and ethics in space, shedding light on what it means to be human in the cosmos.